THE HISTORY OF THE ESTATE

/ …more than one hundred years ago

The Prussian government established the domain and acquired the first parcels in the year 1902: steep, jagged and rocky terrain, including an old copper mine. The layout and development of the vineyards proved extraordinarily difficult – solid rock had to be blasted out of the way and colossal masses of earth must be moved. The first Riesling vines were planted in 1903.

In 2010, the former Staatsdomäne was rechristened Gut Hermannsberg. Thanks to comprehensive investments in care and maintenance of the vineyards as well as the modernisation of the cellar – not to mention a complete reorientation of the estate’s quality concept – Gut Hermannsberg now figures once more as one of Germany’s premier producers of Riesling.

The estate owns some 30 hectares of vineyard, all classified as VDP/GROSSE Lage; a unique and exceptional portfolio of sites with extraordinary potential, most of them arranged around the art nouveau manor house and its outbuildings. Steeply sloped vineyards such as the legendary Kupfergrube, the monopole Hermannsberg and the remarkably unique Traiser Bastei belong on any list of the best Riesling sites in Germany – and thus in the world. This potential manifests itself as well in an obligation for future years, to remain the source of distinctive and matchless wines – mineral-driven, substantial and precise – wines that could come from this estate alone.

THE VINEYARDS

/ Great wines are ‘made’ in the vineyard

For us, viticulture is a craft – work done by hand, and not infrequently arduous, laborious. Most of our thirty hectares of vineyards are arrayed on steeply sloped sites in the communities of Schlossböckelheim, Niederhausen, Traisen and Altenbamberg.

Here in the Middle Nahe, nature has provided us with the ideal baseline conditions for harvesting perfect grape material. Intricate, painstaking leaf-canopy management in the vineyard and the application of compost that we produce ourselves are only a couple of the steps we take, in order to bring the wines into harmony with nature.

Wine is nature itself, and great wines are born in the vineyard.

THE CELLAR

/ Traditional and modern – this is where the methods meet

Although great wines come into being in the vineyard, it is in the cellar that they assume their ultimate form. The immaculate grape material that comes from our vineyards is processed by us in the wine cellar with the greatest possible care and restraint. In doing this, for example, we refrain from any fining of the wines.

And we don’t want to ‘make’ a wine, but rather seek to give the unique character of the individual vineyard the optimum possibility of articulating itself. An example of this: we vinify many different parcels within a site separately, to fully delineate the individual and distinct potential of each single block of vines.

In this sense, here at Gut Hermannsberg it is less about establishing a particular ‘house style’, and more about the authentic expression of the individual wines.

THE VINEYARD SITES

/ Riesling: the ideal ambassador for an unparalleled diversity of soils

All of our vineyards sites have been classified as VDP.Grosse Lage by the Verein Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter, the VDP – and thus figure among the finest sites in Germany. The overwhelming majority of our ideally exposed parcels lie on steep slopes, quite often with a gradient of more than 50%. The Nahe is famous for the diversity of its soils – in fact, a kaleidoscopic synopsis of German viticulture. No other growing region in Germany is more detailed and diverse in terms of its geology. And its beneficial climate provides us quite regularly with fully ripened and exquisitely aromatic grapes.

Ideal conditions for growing Riesling!

The ‘king of the white grapes’ is – like precious few varieties – an extremely expressive ambassador for the soil in which it grows, and for its heritage. Riesling from the best sites, the environmental circumstances, our cellarmaster’s experience and uncompromising quest for quality – as well as the passion of the entire team for Riesling – play together like a virtuoso ensemble in chamber music, and have made Gut Hermannsberg – the former Royal Prussian Wineproducing Domain – one of the best Riesling estates in Germany.

Schlossböckelheimer Kupfergrube

Here the soils are composed from an eruptive volcanic rock called melaphyre, covered with carbon slate that was introduced at the turn of the previous century. Thousands of working hours were required to carve a vineyard out of the former copper mine and the surrounding craggy and rocky terrain. Diligently and painstakingly shaped by the hand of man, the terraced and steeply rising south-facing vineyard demands to be cultivated today in the same fashion – with acknowledgement for the considerable achievement of its origin. The vines and their clusters seem to be aware of the responsibility we have accepted. Diva-like, they forgive no mistakes, and demand the greatest restraint in the cellar.

Not even 200 metres away from the Kupfergrube, but its soils and the salient elements of their character could not be any more different: argillaceous schist in the subsoil covered by wind-blown loess. Its name comes down from origins during the period of ancient Roman conquest, referring to the god Hermes – Mercury – who protected travellers, perhaps a site where rituals were once performed. Melaphyre was introduced more than a hundred years ago during a period of mining. This site reacts in a somewhat reticent fashion to any outside influence – it seems to be even-tempered and yes, on occasion almost shy. Often underestimated as the ‘little brother’ to the Hermannshöhle, it always proves worth the effort to coax this vineyard out of its customary shell. There’s no superficial glint and glitter about it, it remains quite composed and serene. Aware of its strengths, Hermmansberg patiently awaits its moment.

Traiser Bastei

This is one of the world’s most spectacular vineyard sites. The towering rock massif Rotenfels embraces the small vineyard like an amphitheatre surrounding a stage, a stage upon which only Riesling can play so impressively. The crenulations above the vineyard evoke the form of battlements and have given the site its name. Here the vines are rooted deep in the rhyolite gravels, and a cooling breeze constantly wafts its way about the vines. Anybody who has seen the Rotenfels glowing in the light of evening can well imagine what stories the vines in the Bastei have to tell. As with the vineyard site Kertz, the interplay of sunlight and shade demands particular attention. The stone cliff watches over the vines, while providing a gigantic repository for the sun’s warmth as well.

Niederhäuser Steinberg

This site lies between Hermannsberg and Kupfergrube, but is in no way a synthesis of the two. The name gives a hint: its Lemberg porphyry, like melaphyre a species of rock with volcanic origins, is far harder in texture and yellowish, almost white in colour. The extremely meagre soils of the vineyard face south and southwest. The soil is pure in character, hence the preparation of the wine must adhere to puristic models. Here, a sense of crystalline minerality is the site’s trademark – and a challenge for the winegrower and the winelover as well.

Niederhäuser Kertz

The name of this site is somewhat misleading, since it has nothing to do with a candle – in German eine Kerze. Our parcel was actually called ‘Rossel’ in former times. Steep and arranged into terraces facing perfectly south, the name refers to the soil, which is composed exclusively from the gravels and rubble of the adjacent quarry. This soil is Lemberg porphyry, like in the Steinberg. But the site has little in common with the Steinberg. It is the special microclimate – influenced as well by the terracing – that makes this parcel so unique. Cultivation of the soil and leaf canopy management must be exactly coordinated with one another – the challenge here is the interplay between sunlight and shade.

Altenbamberger Rotenberg

Located in the Alsenztal, a side valley off the Nahe River, this is the vineyard furthest distant from Gut Hermannsberg’s cellar. Its steep, southerly oriented slopes rise high above Altenbamberg, with soils developed during the Rotliegend period, which are permeated with rhyolite (formerly called quartz porphyry). The reddish colour indicates high iron content and has thus given the site its name. And it is through this unique mineral constitution of the wines that the Rotenberg becomes so exceptional. The light breeze that blows around its heights provides that Certain Extra Something and allows the clusters to ripen till late in the season.

Schlossböckelheimer Felsenberg

The Felsenberg is a scree slope formed from the rocks that lie above it, hence the name. Seated in the valley between the river and the rock face, this extremely steep vineyard with optimal southern exposure offers the ideal conditions for Riesling. Its brown-grey, occasionally reddish soils of melaphyre punctuated with stony-gritty clays are easily warmed. A distinctive microclimate, which blesses our grapes with an extended period in which to ripen. However, the moment of harvest must be correctly selected, in order to maintain the cool sense of freshness and comprehensively communicate all of the potential minerality inherent in the material.

CURRENT HOURS OF OPERATION – Vinotheque & Sales

We’d like to welcome you to Gut Hermannsberg and introduce you to the the world of Riesling!

New opening Times 01.01.2018

March to October

Tuesday–Friday
10.00–18.00

Saturday and Sunday

12.00-18.00

monday by arrangement

November to February

Tuesday-Saturday
10.00-18.00

Sunday & Monday by arrangement

Closing Times

23.-27.12.2017 & 01.-02.01.2018

IMPORTANT NOTICES:

For presentations & events the wine bar will be open from the beginning of the event.

THE BOOK

/ Gut Hermannsberg
/ A Wine Estate Makes History

‘Gut Hermannsberg on the Nahe’ can look proudly back upon a long and eventful history as a top wine estate and cultural monument of German winemaking, having been initially founded by the Kingdom of Prussia to serve as a model-of-industry winery for the region. Convict labourers moved hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of earth so that the top sites ‘Kupfergrube’ and ‘Hermannsberg’ could be laid out. These remain to this day among the best Riesling sites in the world.

Dr. Christine Dinse gives a captivating account of this history of wine, culture and the times. She weaves a chronicle from the people involved and everyday occurrences – a tale of science, politics and highly notable individuals. Previously unpublished original records, tasting notes, historical maps, snapshots and documents – along with large-format landscape photographs – all impressively illustrate the long road from ‘fiscal model-of-industry winery’ at the turn of the previous century to the estate’s new beginnings as Gut Hermannsberg.

This book is on the order of ‘required reading’ for all who love German Riesling and wish to learn more about its history.